North American stock markets closed virtually unchanged Tuesday as investors attention shifted from the war in Iraq to corporate earnings. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 4.38 points to 6,438.71.

Although most Canadian companies are not expected to begin the barrage of earnings until next week, several companies have already given investors warnings.

After the market’s close on Tuesday, Zarlink Semiconductor said it will take an $11.5 million writedown in the fourth quarter on its stake in closely held Mitel Networks Corp. Zarlink shares dropped 22¢ cents, or to close at $5.68.

Financials were the best-performing TSX sector, with Sun Life Financial ahead 40¢ to $29.50 and TD Bank up 36¢ to $33.45.

Information technology was the worst performer, down 1%, as Celestica lost 69¢ to $15.69.

Gold stocks helped boost the market with a 0.8% gain. The price of gold rose 90¢ to US$322.10 an ounce. Gabriel Resources was up 19¢ to $2.69.

The energy sector was flat as the price of crude oil moved 13¢ higher to US$28.13 per barrel.

Air Canada shares soared 26¢ to $1.34, up from the 69¢ low set last Wednesday after it sought bankruptcy protection.

Bombardier was up 14¢ at $3.45 after it revealed another piece of its refinancing plan Monday, saying it will sell 340 million shares at $3.25 each to a syndicate of underwriters.

Shares in Hemosol continued to slide, losing 17.5¢ to 45.5¢ after the firm gave a conditional layoff notice Monday to almost all its staff.

TSX volume was 194.8 million shares worth $1.79 billion. Declines edged advances 528 to 524 with 215 unchanged.

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 5.01 points to 1,041.68.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average edged down 1.49 points to 8,298.92. The Nasdaq slipped 6.57 points to 1,382.94, while the S&P 500 was off 1.64 at 878.29.

In the technology sector, semiconductor shares lost ground after profit warnings from RF Micro and another chip maker, Microchip Technology Inc.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.49 of a cent to US68.13¢ as the American dollar faltered and traders bet that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates next Tuesday.